David Douglas (publisher)
David Douglas
Life
Douglas was born in Stranraer in south-west Scotland the son of William Douglas and Sophia Black, and attended school in Whithorn.
Douglas went to Edinburgh, probably around 1837, as a printer's apprentice. He soon after joined the staff of William Blackwood & Sons. Gaining confidence and skill he set up his own printworks. In 1847 he formed a partnership to create Edmonston and Douglas, based at 87 Princes Street,[2] which lasted 30 years. On the death of his partner Alexander Edmonston in 1877 he formed a new company with Thomas Foulis, named Douglas & Foulis, which lasted until his death. Douglas & Foulis appear to have operated a popular circulating library in the early 20th century, which, for a cost of one guinea per year, a member could borrow one book per month, and for ten guineas per year 30 books per month could be borrowed.[3]
Douglas was for many years Editor of the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. In 1866 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh his proposer being Alexander Campbell Fraser.[4] From 1891 to 1909 he conducted a prolonged correspondence with William Winter in New York City.[5]
In later life his business was at 10 Castle Street and his house at 22 Drummond Place, both in Edinburgh.[6] In these final years he moved from his earlier more intellectual and historical focus to the republishing of American novels in Britain as cheap editions.[7]
Douglas died of pneumonia in Edinburgh on 4 April 1916.
Following his death most ongoing work was absorbed by Thomas Noble Foulis (Foulis’ son) who had set up his own business T. N. Foulis in 1903.[8] The firm later evolved into Hunter & Foulis.
Family
He was married to Sarah Burns Millidge.[9]
His daughter, Sarah Wyse Douglas (d.1886), married the oceanographer, Sir William Abbott Herdman.
Most noteworthy publications
- Rab and his Friends by Dr John Brown (1859 onwards) 31 editions
- Popular Tales from the Norse by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen (1859) 16 editions
- Scotland in the Middle Ages by Cosmo Innes (1860) 2 editions
- The History of Scottish Poetry by David Irving (1861) 4 editions
- Scotland Under Her Early Kings by Eben William Robertson (1862) 4 editions
- Christopher Northby Mary Wilson Gordon (1862) 4 editions
- Ancient Leaves by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson (1862)
- History of English Literature by Hippolyte Taine (1864 onwards) 35 editions
- The Insane in Private Dwellings by Sir Arthur Mitchell (1864)
- Prometheus the Fire-Bringer by Richard Henry Horne (1864) 6 editions
- Hidden Depths by Felicia Skene (1862)
- Public Health in Relation to Air and Water by William Tennant Gairdner (1862)
- Studies in Poetry and Philosophy by John Campbell Shairp (1868 onwards) 13 editions
- The Home Life of Sir David Brewster by Margaret Maria Gordon (1869) 4 editions
- Gossip about Letters and Letter-Writers by George Seton (1870)
- Recollections of a Tour Made in Scotland by Dorothy Wordsworth (1873) 13 editions
- Archibald Constable and his Literary Correspondents by Thomas Constable (1873) 5 editions
- Four Phases of Morals by John Stuart Blackie (1874) 7 editions
- The Journal of Henry Cockburn, autobiography of Henry Cockburn (1874) 2 vols 4 editions
- The Large Game and Natural History of South and South-East Africa by the Hon William Henry Drummond (1875) 4 editions
- Sketches of Thermodynamics by Peter Guthrie Tait (1877) 5 editions
- The Orygynale Cronykil of Scotland by Andrew of Wyntoun (1879) 4 editions
- Recollections of Curious Characters and Pleasant Places by Charles Lanman (1881)
- Birds from Moidart and Elsewhere by Jemima Blackburn (1895)
- Johannis de Fordun Chronica Gentis Scotorum by John Fordun(1871) 4 editions
- Archaeological Essays by Sir James Young Simpson (1872) 3 editions
- Lectures on Scottish Legal Antiquities by Cosmo Innes (1872) 3 editions.
- Winter Sunshine by John Burroughs (1884)
- An Echo of Passion by George Parsons Lathrop (1884)
- A Borrowed Month and other Stories by Frank Richard Stockton(1887)
- Studies in the Topography of Galloway by Sir Herbert Maxwell(1887)
- The Castellated and Domestic Architecture of Scotland by David MacGibbon and Thomas Ross (1887-1892)
- The Annals of Scottish Natural History (1892)
- Christianity and the Ideal of Humanity in Old Times and New by John Stuart Blackie (1893)
- Idyls in Drab by William Dean Howells (1896)
- Fare and Physic of a Past Century by Ella Christie and Alice Stewart (1900)
- The Journal of Sir Walter Scott(1910)
- Trench pictures from France (1915)
- Russian Court Memories 1914-1916 (1917)
- The Demon by Mikhail Lermontov (1918)
References
- ^ "Edmonston & Douglas". Fine-art-prints-store.com. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1850-51
- ^ William Smith (10 September 2008). "Hang Fire Books: Douglas & Foulis: Edinburgh Booksellers". Hangfirebooks.blogspot.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ISBN 0-902-198-84-X. Archived from the original(PDF) on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 26 February 2016.
- OCLC 502997321.
- ^ Edinburgh and Leith Post Office Directory 1911-12
- ^ New York Times: obituary 6 April 1916
- ^ "T.N. Foulis, Publisher | Articles : Stella & Rose's Books". Stellabooks.com. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "David Douglas (1823 - 1916) - Genealogy". Geni.com. 4 April 1916. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "Internet Archive Search: publisher:"Edinburgh : David Douglas"". Archive.org. Retrieved 2 June 2016.
- ^ "Internet Archive Search: publisher:"Edinburgh, Edmonston and Douglas"". Archive.org. Retrieved 2 June 2016.